How 'Sturgeon' guides the surgeon

For pediatric patients with central nervous system (CNS) tumors, primary treatment often involves neurosurgical tumor resection. Accurate diagnosis is crucial to perform the best-suited extent of resection. Since two years, Sturgeon, an AI-based validated intraoperative nanopore sequencing tool, has been fully integrated with frozen section analyses as standard of care in our nationwide centralized pediatric oncology hospital. This care evaluation is the first to demonstrate the impact of Sturgeon on neurosurgical decision-making. Sturgeon delivered correct diagnoses in 82 out of 94 consecutive patients (87.2%, <90 minutes), no diagnosis in 11.7% and 1 incorrect diagnosis. The diagnosis obtained by Sturgeon supported the intended surgical strategy (85.7%) or changed the strategy (14.3%) toward a more aggressive or limited resection. This resulted in only 3.2% second-look surgeries. In conclusion, intraoperative use of Sturgeon provides essential guidance toward the most optimal neurosurgical strategy and thereby has great potential to contribute to better clinical outcome.